Avatar: The Awakened Cycle
by jaelaun
Summary: Sequel to the events in TLOK. Decades have passed after the death of Avatar Korra. With its fusion with the spirit world, the material world has been thrown into conflict. As humanity struggled with their coexistence with the spirits, the new Avatar is finally discovered. However, nothing is as it appears when an existence apart from the Avatar is also awakened.
1. First Prelude

Animated shouts of joy resounded throughout the Earth Kingdom. Although the words were indistinguishable through sealed windows, the echoing relief was only too obvious. Loud cheers of celebration came from a crowd parading onto the streets. An extremely young and dark-skinned boy watched with curious emerald eyes as he tried to make out the cries. He pressed an ear against the wooden screens in order to to sate his growing curiosity.

"_They've found the Avatar!_"

".. Avatar?" He felt a strange resonance from deep within himself as he repeated the word. The vague sense of familiarity only succeeded in intensifying his interest. After briefly surveying his surroundings, the child attempted to pry open the screens. The audible creaking of the windows masked the steps of a young woman as she entered the room upon seeing him. It was not until she had spoken did he notice her presence behind him.

"What are you doing, Adra?" The boy's mother approached him as he stared outside the windows of their estate. Surprised, the young boy flinched before meeting her fixed stares. She shared his green colored eyes and delicately angled facial structure. However, unlike her son, her complexion was subtly tanned – giving off the impression that she did not often traverse outdoors. Despite her fragile body, she held her long brown hair in a tight bun, making her appear surprisingly strict.

"Adra!" A boy who mirrored Adra's appearance entered the room running. Unaware of the fact that he was interrupting, the second boy nimbly dashed past the young woman. "I couldn't find you! At first I thought you went outside," he whispered after taking heed to the glares he was receiving from behind.

"Adhir, don't run into a room shouting. It's bad manners," his motherly lightly scolded the him with an exasperated sigh.

The two children were identical twins that would be difficult to differentiate if it weren't for a few minor distinctions. While both boys had black similarly spiked hair, they had different coloration tints that extended down to their bangs; Adra sported silver highlights and Adhir had brown. Adhir had also managed to inherit rare sky blue eyes from an ancestor that he shared only with one of his three older sisters.

Adhir clung onto Adra as he glimpsed out the window to watch the parade of people. Without acknowledging his mother's reprimand Adhir decided that the throng outside their home should take priority. He asked, "What are they doing, Mother? And .."

".. Why are they so happy?" Adra tacked on the second question that Adhir had conveniently set up for him.

"And what's the 'Avatar'?" both boys called out in unison as they turned their gazes to their mystified mother. Completely unable to keep pace with her twins' rapid interrogation, she tried to take a moment to organize questions.

"Give your mother some room, boys." A powerfully built man of enormous height leaned against the doorway as he watched the three with fond brown eyes. Like the twins, he had darkened skin that suggested his long hours worth of soaking in sunlight. His hair was black and cropped short compared to his other Earth Kingdom brethren.

"Do you know what's happening, Father?" Adra tilted his head as he moved away from the window.

"Don't you remember Bala telling you stories about the Avatar?"

Adra and Adhir's eyes met, though both gazes reflected only confusion. It was only inevidible. They had been too young to understand, so neither had a clear memory of their older sister mentioning anything about 'The Avatar'.

"I'll be checking on Bala and Adi," their mother said with a sigh. "And please, Ayuta, don't exaggerate the Avatar too much. I imagine Bala is already planning to join the parade outside." Though she'd said it halfheartedly, the likeliness of her gamine daughter committing to join the mob was not so unlikely, and she made haste after exiting the room.

Ayuta chuckled as his wife left hurriedly. He walked over to his twins before sitting onto the ground to be at eyes length with them. "Your mother acts as though the Avatar is nothing to get too excited over, but she knows just how special today is for all the people of the four nations." As their father began in a deep tone, both Adra and Adhir gravitated towards him and the short explanation he was about to tell.

"The Avatar is a bender chosen by the spirit Raava to become a bridge between the material and spirit worlds. Unlike Earthbenders .." Ayuta placed one hand onto Adra's head, "Or even Firebenders .." He placed his second hand onto Adhir's head. "The Avatar could wield all four elements."

"That's _cheating_!" Adhir accused grumpily as Adra stiffened with uncertainty. Competitive as he was, Adhir could not agree with a bender capable of controlling more than one element.

"It's not cheating, Adhir," Ayuta laughed at his son's stubborn and combative nature. "The Avatar is chosen to maintain the peace of the world. It wouldn't be possible without the powers of all the elements. The Avatar has power, yes, but that person must use his or her powers wisely. The responsibilities that come with being the Avatar are nothing to scoff at. Can you imagine the strain of having to carry the fate of the world's balance on your shoulders?" He dug a firm grip onto Adhir's shoulders – as if to prove a point.

While Adhir was clearly disgruntled by the existence of the Avatar, in comparison Adra was growing increasingly apprehensive. Adra felt that a discrepancy that he couldn't identify in father's words. He had faith that his father was not lying, but his explanation wasn't enough to satisfy Adra's concerns.

"And that's why they're happy? Because the Avatar was found?" he questioned more timidly than he had when he was asking his mother. Ayuta nodded solidly.

"In the time of Avatar Korra our world and the spirit world had fused. Today spirits are not unusual to see, but when your great great grandparents were alive, the two worlds had been separated. The two worlds were fused so suddenly and after Avatar Korra passed on, we had to learn how to live in unison with the spirits without our bridge. Fights are always breaking out between humans and the spirits .. We impede too much in each other's territory. But the Avatar is both human and spirit. This is why everyone is so happy. We will finally be able to make peace with the spirits," their father finished as he tousled the twins' hair. Adra's frown deepened marginally.

'No .. Something is wrong. I don't understand .. Why does it feel like something is missing ..?' Adra's thoughts occupied him as his brother decided to continue.

"What about dark spirits?" Adhir persisted as he attempted to pry off his father's hand from his shoulder. "Our tutor said all the girls in his regular class are scared of dark spirits because they think they'll get kidnapped by them. Right, Adra?"

"Nnh," Adra responded absently to his brother's light prodding. Quickly deciding to shelve his doubts, Adra enumerated on Adhir's question. "Is the Avatar going to destroy all the dark spirits?"

Ayuta gave the boys a thoughtful expression as he mulled over how to answer their inquisitive minds. Both were surprisingly perceptive for their age.

"I'm sure you'll learn more about the Avatar when Tutor Balti comes for you next lesson," Ayuta casually fended off the twins as he made to stand up. "Now both of you should get ready. I think it should be okay to go out to eat tonight. After all, we should celebrate the coming of the new Avatar too."

And with that, the inquiry session was over.

* * *

Three years after the discovery of the new Avatar still left the Sybak family occupied. Descended from a mixed range of benders, the governmentally established noble family had acted as the most stable form of a replacement for the Avatar in the last several generations. This diversity could not have made itself more prominent with the most recent generation of Sybaks. Out of their six birthed children they had three Earthbenders and one Firebender. But the Sybaks hadn't stopped there; after the death of their close friends, the Sybaks decided to adopt the two recently orphaned children of the family. Soon after their adoption, the Sybaks discovered that their new son was an Airbender.

It had been 262 years since the time of Avatar Korra: surpassing Avatar Aang's recorded time lag in which an Avatar appears after their predecessor's death. After Avatar Korra's passing, the people could only assume that the fusion of the material world and the spirit world meant that there was no need for an Avatar anymore. Researchers on the subject reasoned that it was a delay due to the chaotic state the worlds were put under. It wasn't until Avatar Dohna was discovered did this theory finally be fully recognized as the truth.


	2. Second Prelude

"Ugh! Hurry up, you little brats!" Impatiently, a dark-skinned girl tried to spurn on her younger siblings to move faster. Besides herself, she egged on three younger brothers and their youngest sister to move quickly. She was the spitting image of her father, though her cropped short hair was brown rather than black; and though she didn't have her father's robust build, she was often mistaken for a stunning young boy. "Don't you want to meet the Avatar? We're going to miss our chance if we don't go now! Even though the Avatar was found three years ago, we've never even seen her face. And we're the **Sybak Family**," she emphasized excessively.

"Don't be so rough with them, Bala .." Moving between the independent girl and her younger siblings stood a young girl of the same age. Like the rest of her family she had a darker skin tone, though it was noticeably lighter than Bala's. Out of all her siblings, she had the most individualistic appearance. She had long, black, wavy locks with silver highlights that complimented her large sky blue eyes: she was a graceful and beautiful young girl.

"I'm not going to pamper them like you, Adi," she replied forcefully as she lightly shoved her sister out of the way. Bala walked towards Adra and Adhir with a malicious, but playful, glint in her eyes. "Both of you. Help me out. We're going to see Avatar Dohna." Unwilling to take no for an answer, she dragged the twins by their collars, much to their extreme displeasure.

"Shut up, Bala! If you think we're just going to do everything you say, you're wrong! Let go of us already, you demented stalker!" Adhir shouted back belligerently as he snapped a small flame into life. Bala hastily released both her brothers after realizing that Adhir wouldn't shy away from burning his own sister. "Father is the only one who _actually _gets to see the Avatar anyway. You're dragging all of us out here for nothing."

"This is why you're always called the dumb one, Adhir," Bala countered. "If no one is going to let us meet her, we've got to find her ourselves. It's very _simple_," she said mockingly.

"Are you making fun of me?!" he growled violently as a flame erupted from his palm in his rage.

"Look, Adhir. We're not going to get another chance like this. We have two Earthbenders, a Firebender, and even an Airbender with us right now. There's no way we can go wrong!" Bala proudly puffed up her existent – though honestly lacking – chest.

"Bala .." Adi interrupted her sister a second time, "I don't think this is a good idea. We're going to get caught. If that happens Father will get in trouble too .." Though her voice was soft and wavering, it was the sound of reason.

"No," a subdued but decisive response rebuffed Adi. Adra, who rarely asserted his personal opinions aloud, flatly rejected his sister. "Bala's right. We definitely won't get another chance like this."

Their father, the representative of the Sybak Family, was going to meet Avatar Dohna for the very first time since she had been discovered three years ago. In those three years, Avatar Dohna was always kept heavily guarded within the confines of the Four Nations Alliance building while she tried to master the four elements. Yet, for the first time since she had been recognized as the Avatar, she was allowed to leave the city.

Normally, under the watchful eyes of their mother, the Sybak children could only dream of leaving the manor unattended. But the two eldest of the siblings, Campa and Amita, contracted an unpleasant virus that required the immediate attention of a Waterbending healer. Traveling to the Northern Water Tribe from the Earth Kingdom was by no means a meager distance. Unable to minister to her sick children while keeping tabs on her younger ones, she was forced to leave them with their servants. By chance or fate, the two servants their mother had left to watch over them had a miscommunication in which each thought the other was currently watching over the Sybak children. They were essentially left to their own devices for the next hour. Capitalizing on this, Bala managed to guide her younger siblings and twin sister outside of their mansion.

"I guess I can help .." Adhir said sheepishly after realizing that Adra intended to meet the Avatar. "I'm not doing it because of _you_ though," he said as he shot an unforgiving glare at Bala.

"Adra's the smart one, Adhir! You should have just listened to me in the first place," Bala replied rather cheerfully as she hounded on him. "So! How should we break in?" Bala turned her face to the others, her eyes filled with a mischievous light as she fantasized over several prospective schemes.

"Adhir can make the distraction," Adra spoke up again – taking the others by surprise. "Use firebending to make a smokescreen. Make sure they can't see anything."

"What? The distraction? That sounds so boring." His brother's face contorted as Adra expanded on the specifics.

"W-wait, Adra!" Adi panicked as she realized how dangerous this plan was. "I-if you make a smokescreen, the guards will choke on it! Don't hurt anyone!" she cried out as her eyes were on the verge of spilling out tears.

"I didn't say the smoke was going to come from the fire," Adra clarified slowly. "There's a lake nearby. Adhir just needs to make steam."

".. Eh? But the lake isn't close enough to the building .." Adi made a weak attempt to retaliate, but to no avail.

"I can help with that? Can't I?" The youngest brother, who had only been watching with a curious eye from that point, suddenly piped up.

"Right! There aren't any other Airbenders in the Earth Kingdom right now, so they'll have to think of a different way to counter the steam too!" Bala yelped gleefully as she understood the details of their quickly formulated strategy. Adi, now unable to think of a reason to give up on this that she hasn't already said, could shrink away. "You just watch over Mu, Adi," Bala easily assigned her nonbending sister to the youngest child in the family – who'd only barely hit the age of five. Adi flinched back, but was in no position to argue.

"Alright, fine. I'll make the steam .. But how are we going to get through after that?"

"Yun can help with that too. As long as we sort of know where we're going, it'll be easy," Bala said with confidence.

".. It probably won't be that easy. But we should start soon. The servants will notice that we went missing soon," Adra frowned lightly as he took the lead towards the lake.

* * *

Twenty minutes after the plan had been formulated, a thick fog descended unevenly into the visitors district of the Earth Kingdom. With no Air or Waterbenders nearby, the guards stationed outside of Avatar Dohna's lodging could only wait it out. The temperature of the surrounding area rose rapidly, causing the guards reach the conclusion that this was no natural fog. Sweat forced their clothes to stick to their skin in an uncomfortable manner. One intuitively likened the fog to being in a sauna. Growing weary of the strange fog that was stripping them of their sight, several of the patrolling guards were sent out to investigate.

After transporting the steam with a light breeze, Yun and Adhir joined Adra and Bala. Together, the Earthbending duo created an opening in the rock built building that was usually being patrolled.

"So what should we do now? Split up?" Bala rubbed her fingers together in a greedy manner.

"You're too obsessed with the Avatar, Bala," Adhir commented both Adra's and Yun's thoughts.

"Shut up! Let's go already. It's not like that steam is going to last very long," Bala shoved at her brother as she ran down the corridor with speed.

"I don't think we should separate but she's not going to listen anyway," Adra said with a twinge of annoyance as Bala's figure disappeared. "We'll just look around. But we have to leave in ten minutes – it doesn't matter if we get to see her or not." Adra's two brothers nodded dutifully as they both snuck off in different directions. The steam from outside the building seeped through the windows and began to hinder even Adra's own sight. He took a deep breath before hesitantly maneuvering his hands in a round motion that mimicked the movements that Yun had been using before they entered the inn. Slowly, a gentle breeze developed in the palm of his hand, blowing away the surrounding steam.

Adra's resolve to meet Avatar Dohna was not the shallow desire to meet a dignitary. Why was he able to command more than one element? Was Avatar Dohna, truly, the Avatar? Watching the physically visible wind that whirled in his palm, Adra entered the nearest room.

Silence overtook the area and Adra felt the tension in the air rise rapidly.

"You are?" a soft soprano stopped Adra in his tracks as he came face to face with a young girl. It wasn't until she became aware of the roiling breeze he held in his palm did she approach him. "You're .. an Airbender?"

Adra winced, suddenly remembering that he was still bending. The condensed wind expanded until it dispersed into nothingness and immediately the light steam fell back into place. Though it obstructed his view, Adra was nearby enough to see the features of the girl before him. She had a brown tan that was a shade darker than her short wavy hair. Yet, it was her eyes that drew his interest most.

"Your eyes are different?" he asked with a tilt of his head, not realizing that he was neglecting her own question.

"Yes. One is hazel and the other one is brown. But .." she looked at him with growing suspicion. "If I answer one of your questions, you have to answer mine too."

"Ah .." Adra hesitated for a moment, but the young girl had a point. "I'm not really an Airbender. I'm an Earthbender," he corrected her slowly. However, she gave him an unconvinced expression. It was clear that she didn't believe a word he'd just said.

"Don't lie. I saw you using airbending earlier," she glowered.

"I can use both," he tried to clarify, only further confusing the girl. Upon seeing her expression, Adra quickly shut his mouth. He didn't say much, but he knew that he'd already said too much.

"But that's not possible! Only the I can use more than one element!"

Adra blinked, finally discerning who this young child was. "You're Avatar Dohna?"

Swallowing hard, Dohna nodded slowly as she created a compacted ball of wind just as he'd done earlier. ".. But I thought only the Avatar was able to bend more than one .. How are you able to do that?"

There was a loud thud outside in the corridor and Adra heard a familiar gloating cry. "Just try and catch me! Hah! Is that all you've got?! And you call yourself the Avatar's guards!"

It was Bala.

".. She's going to caught." Adra heaved an irritated sigh as he made to exit the room.

"Wait! What's your name?" Dohna asked him hastily.

"Sorry. I have to leave." Leaving his name with her could be bad. If she said anything, Adi's fear would be realized. Another shout echoed throughout the corridor. Fearing that Dohna would persist, Adra left the room to search for his older sister. Running down the hallway Adra felt the familiar resonance that he'd felt the day the Avatar had been found. He froze at the strange sense of nostalgia. But he couldn't worry about that now. He would have to join with the others and get back to the manor before the servants finally realized their mistake.

**Author's Note: **I'm new to the site, so please be patient when I try to get my bearings. These first chapters are actually the prologue, so I'll just be labeling them as Prelude Part 1, Part 2, etc. Not sure how long it'll be. Maybe around 4-5 chapters? Hopefully I'll be able to get it all done in the next few weeks. Well, that's all I've got for now. Thanks for reading, guys. 3 (This was meant to be in the first chapter but I forgot. MY B.)


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